2017 Ford Escape Review

The Escape has been a long running model in Ford’s lineup and also one of their best selling vehicles so it is no surprise that the mid-life update of the car is nothing more than just a mild facelift on the outside coupled with a lot of added technology. While this is usually bad, the 2017 Ford Escape makes for a really nice car to get and the best part about it is that it is quite cheap and it also comes with plenty of features for the money.

2017 Ford Escape Review

Because it is just a small facelift, the brakes, running gear and even the engines are very similar or identical to those found on the previous model but that’s fine with us considering that the car is usually aimed at people looking for plenty of space and good all weather capabilities.

Ford Escape Release date and Price

The new model is already available for sale at most major dealers around the World and not too long ago Ford also added a Sport appearance package which will further improve the car.

The only downside is that the package will only be available starting with the second half of the year and only for the higher end trim levels.

The base price for an “S” model starts at just $24,500 while the higher end trim levels will go to as far as $35,000 which is still quite good for its class.

Design

Design wise, the new 2017 Ford Escape is quite a bit more different than the car it is replacing. This time around Ford went for their new corporate look with the much larger hexagonal upper grille with three horizontal slats, just like those on the Explorer.

On top of that, the headlights are slightly arched to the back and feature wrap-around LED daytime running lights and the front bumper received a small lip for extra sportiness. The back is nearly identical to the previous model with only the tail lights being different.

Interior of Ford Escape

Inside the cabin there is pretty much the same story as on the outside but here the only major changes are the addition of more safety features as well as a much better infotainment and navigation unit which will support Apple’s Car Play and Google’s Android Auto.

On top of that, the buyer will get a smart-phone app which will inform him of the future service appointments, it will allow the driver to remote-start the car and even turn on the air conditioning system.

Engine

Under the hood, the 2017 Ford Escape comes with three different engines. The base one is only available on the base model and it is mainly intended for fleet use being a rather old 2.5 liter naturally aspirated inline 4 with 168 horsepower.

Further up the range there are two EcoBoost engines, both of them coming as standard with a beefier 6 speed automatic transmission and a Stop/Start system. The smaller unit is a 1.5 liter turbocharged mill that develops up to 180 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque which is quite impressive considering that it can get over 30 MPG on the highway with ease.

The larger unit is a 2 liter mill with 245 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque which is actually part of Ford’s new generation of engines. Both of these can also be had with an all wheel drive system which will give the car the all weather capability most people crave.

A diesel is unfortunately unavailable on the US market and a hybrid is still missing but it might be introduced some time in the near future.